In the driving of mechanisms with a rotary input, it is oft times desirable to gain an epicycloidal rotary output which, in the course of a cycle, will have a dwell characteristic which in practical applications will permit loading or unloading of a part during the dwell. Other objectives include a mechanism which has kinematic flexibility to adapt to various applications.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a mechanism which has a wide range of kinematic flexibility.
It is another object of this invention to provide a mechanism having dwell characteristics superior to those of the prior art epicycloidal drive mechanism.
It is another object of this invention to provide a mechanism in which a simple cam can be used as a vernier on the output characteristics of the prior art epicycloidal drive.
It is another object of this invention to combine the improvements of the mechanism disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,090 with the aforesaid objective improvements to the epicycloidal drive.
Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent in the following specification and claims in which the invention is disclosed together with details to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the invention, all in connection with the best mode presently contemplated for the invention.